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New York

A Literary History

Ross Wilson editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:27th Feb '20

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New York cover

The city's literature is explored in this volume, which reveals a metropolis in a constant state of movement.

Using an international perspective on New York's literary tradition, it expands the meaning of literature for students and researchers to explore how novels, poetry, periodicals, and newspapers have shaped the lives of New Yorkers and how the city has been seen across the world.New York City's streets, parks, museums, architecture, and its people appear in an array of literary works published from New York's earliest settlement to the present day. The exploration of the city as both a symbol and as a reality has formed the basis of New York's literature. Using the themes of adaptation, innovation, identity, and hope, this history explores novels, poetry, periodicals, and newspapers to examine how New York's literature can be understood through the notion of movement. From the periodicals of the nineteenth century, the Arabic writers of the city in the early twentieth century, the literature of homelessness, childhood, and the spaces of tragedy and resilience within the metropolis, this diverse assessment opens up new areas of research within urban literature. It provides an innovative examination of how writing has shaped the lives of New Yorkers and how writing about the city has shaped the modern world.

'The collection is too eclectic and wide-ranging to serve as a reference resource, but all the essays are thoughtful, well written, and provocative. The study of literature through the lens of space and place is a significant critical trend, one to which this book is an important contribution … Highly recommended.' J. W. Miller, Choice

ISBN: 9781108470810

Dimensions: 235mm x 158mm x 23mm

Weight: 600g

332 pages